Topping device for sugar-cane harvesters



May 4 ,1926. 1,583,510A v- F. C. D. WILKES El AL TOPPING DEVICE FOR SUGAR CANE HARVESTERS Filed August s, l1922 2 sheets-Shen 1 ArroNErs May 1926.

` F. C. D. WlLKES ET AL 'l'.oPPING DEVICE FoR SUGAR yIQANFJ' HARVESTERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 20 manner.

Patented May 4, 19.26.

, Unir-Ea s,A i

EieEDEEIoil*` c; DOUGLAS WirirEsnriD manners KQELYETiL or NEW YvoiiK,jNfY.,iisf- SGNORS T0 'LUCE GANE. HARVESTER CORPORATION, or NEW Y.0R 1 1\ T. Y.,y Aeon:

roRATAIoN or DELAWARE,

Terrine DEVICE lnon ysrieiiiiaaniEEiraitvfrisrEEs,

applicati@ inea august a; 1922.5- serial No. rffriasaif. y

Be it known thatwe,`F1iEDi inioi Done- LAs VILKES, a citizen .ot-'the Domin-ionfof` Canada, residing;Y in `lle'w York, State of 5. New York, and FizANcisfl'f ELENNfa. citil f zen of the lUnited. States, residingv in New York, State of 'New Yorln 'have invented cer-tain? new and useful Improvements in 'loppingH Devices for SugarfCane ,Hanveste ers, of which the following is specification..

This invention relates to improvementsin.'

sugar cane harvesters and the like, and parc yticularly to the meansv forgoutting off the green tops' of the canalv Y Y In' harvesting sugar canek andpreparinpfther same for the mill, itis necessaiy'vto; out nii"- the. green tops; landthis invention has fori-its particular. objectto provide improved means for topping the cane'li'ii -an'eliicient nisni described andfclai-inedin co-pendling application for Letters Patent' of 'George D. Luce, Serial No. 566,730, led June 8," 119212;

of vfender, means vfor sweepingthe ends of the ACane into proper-engagement'with lthe' fender, and an4 improved cutting'g'- knife,` aljl 39 of which features inay heused either in conibination withl oney another orseparatelyl.l For, the purpose 'of illustrating' t-hefinven*` tion, itis hereinshown' as applied to a cane 35 harvester of the general form disclosed in Y ent of George D. Luce, Serial No. 295,539,

filed- May l2, 1919; but it is to begunderstood thatj itis not limited to use with a 40 harvester of this particular kiiid',siiice i-tis types.

The invention will' loefr unders'to'odfrom'theV- following description taken connection# with the'y accompanying drawings in which" i QI Figure-1 is a side elevation', partlyinsee Vtion and' somewhat diagrammatic iii` characl ter, off a portion of ,a cane harvester having the inventionembodied'therein'gnligure 2 is an ,end'elevatiom partly in section and sonie:

what diagrammatic, looking),` `in the.l direction of the arrow 2in Figure lgfFig'ure n theto "als a'sectionofothe'latterton tliefjliiie off `lifigure 3.5 'f i f yvmrd one ,another by yielding, presser gu B27/and 8'., seas to giupthe cane between lthe chainsLa-nd convey: itin a standing posi:

This invention may be considered as an impro-vement upon hthetopping niecha- Y i i i preferably :slightly- ;be'nt t as i shown 'so-L ,that 1 vwithsja liiiedkn-ife orfblade '12lniouiited D When so considered, thenew featuresofithe,

topping device reside in an improved'- forni the co-pending application for Letters Pat*-l Vobviously applicable toy Inachines l`#ofgother1 foperationfwith the liked blade- 1 2; andi-theare' bent and theciitfterrshaft isinclinejd fors wa-rdly, as herei'nbetore mentioned, 'ample y y'clearance is left between the knivesA at the landr Figure e.:

Referring. to `the clrawiingsygthe. varousf parts of the ,portion of thelharvester; therein;` z-

illustrated fare mounted upon a4 fabricated` steel frame 5, which may. bei ofi the `'forni shownj or off any other suitable forni.Enfk l tending upwardly'fand rearwardly-through, .00 this frame, are ci'inveyor chains, 7, 'and 8,y which are guided l, and yieldingly pressed tion :upwardly l and rearwardl'yI thronghvthe: harvester; 1 y y Located above the ztconveyor chainsyis 'topping Cutterhaving a pluralitvoftopping knives 9: which are preferably bolted. to a.V hub ,10' as .best shown` nFieurle. 3. c Asf shownl in lFigiire l, the knives 9, whichk are t dicular lto the' conveyor ohain'sisl slightly; in-1`v 1.o

cliiied forwardly., This; shat't is..1nounted.in,y L

ingr` enclosed within the gearvcasing lewith, a shaft 18 carrying' a sprocket wheel 20;?

driven. 'by :ai chain 22 vrunningv over; another l Sprocket wheel 23 drivenIby-thel enginewhich-` furnishes power t0 theharvestei'i. "The: cutting knivesf9,ronftheirupper sides adjacent` theircutting edges' 25,fare provided with; upstending ribs 26 whichniay he inadeinf tegral Vwith saidI knives or.v riveted'theietog" .asf the' Cane stalks vare`ipresentedv toff t@ Led" topsare ,thrown out at the side ,ofV thefh-"a'rvester bythe Aengagement ofthe knife. ribs1 `26 with the hot-toms of theseyered cane tops,

Giving toy thef'act-'s that/the cutterk knives Q .160

Ysa

ou 'asbest 'Shown in Figuresy 3" andi lli `f1i e'.,l v topping "cutter is rotatedjat high speed, land?A 2, 1,5sa,51o

will be apparent that the rear wall 27 is` substantially vertical, but slopes backward slightly from `the right tothe left side of the machine; that the side wall 28 is substantially vertical and parallel to the c0nveyor chains and substantially perpendicular to the Yplane in which the topping cutter' rotates; and'that the top 29 of the fender shown in Figure 1.

is substantially parallel to the conveyor chains, but slopes upward'slightly toward the left side of the harvester.V In eect, therefore, the fender forms a pocket which is open at the bottom andfront where'the cane enters, and is open at the side where the tops of the cane are thrown out after being cut off by the topping cutter. By making the rear wall 27 and the top wall 29 ofthe fender diverge slightly instead of eX- tending at right angles Ifrom the side wall 28,r the friction between the cane tops rand the wall 27 and top 29 of the fender while the tops are being ejected, is reduced to a minimum. In order to permit some regulation of the length of the cane tops which are cut ofi", for example when tops are desired for planting, the top 29 of the fender may be made adjustable vertically,'in the manner indicated in Figure 1. From this figure it will be apparent that the top 29 is provided with downwardly.extending portions which lie against the outsides of the rear wall 27 and the side wall 28. The top 29 may beheld in any position by suitable means suchasbolts 30 extending through holes in the side wall 28 and rear wall 27 and through vertical slots inthe adjacent downwardly extending portions of the top 29.

In order to positively insure that the top of the cane will be directed into thek pocket' formed by the fender, we have providedwhat may be called sweeping means in the form of a belt 31 located abovefthe conveyor rchains and inclined rearwardly and down- The sweepwardly with reference thereto. er belt 31 is shown as mounted on rolls or pulleys32 and 33 journaled in the frame of the machine, the roller 33 being provided with a sprocket or pulley 34 carrying a chain or belt 35, running over sprocket or pulley 36 journaled in the frame and driven from the engine which supplies power to the harvester. The belt 3l is preferably provided with wipers 38 which extend across the face of the belt and are inclined rearwardly as The belt 31 is driven in the direction of the arrow ata considerably higher speed than the conveyor chains 6, 7 and 8, and as the tops of the cane stalks engage the belt 31 they are thrown by the wi ers 38 in a rearward direction, as shown in *igure 1, thereby insuring that the canev will be tipped in a rearward direction and thatY the tops of the cane will properly enter the pocket formed by the fender. In practice, it has been found that with conveyor Vchains. driven at the rate of 291 ft. per

minute, the function of the sweeper belt will be satisfactorily performed if the latter is driven at the rate of rabout 970 ft. per minute. It will be understood, however, thatfthe sweeper belt may be driven at other speeds relative to the conveyor chains, as may be found desirable in practice. j

Although the cane stalks handled by a harvester are of different lengths, the tops thereof which it is necessary to cut off are .of substantially the same length. Y With the construction just described, the ends of all stalks no matter what the lengthv of the-latter may be, will enter the pocket formed by the fender, and tops 'of' substantially the same length will be cut off.r In the case of the.'

longer cane stalks, the end of the stalk will be jammed into the upper end of the fender pocket and the stalk will be bent, asshown in Figure 1, until a portion of it passes into the path 0f the cutting knives 9; while in the case of shorter cane stalks, less or no bending of the stalk will occur. The gen-Y eral result will be that tops of substantially the same length will be cut from all of the stalks, which will give satisfactory results.

While we have described one preferred embodiment of our invention, it is to be understood that we are not to be limited to the precise construction shown and described, but thatV we intend to cover in the appended claims equivalent forms in which the invention may be embodied.

WVhat we claim is: s

1. In a machine of the character described, conveying means for conveying the cane, a rotating topping cutter, and a fender having a side portion arranged transversely to the plane of the cutter and substantially parallel toi the path of the conveying means and having a top portion substantially parallel to the plane in which the cutter rotates.

2. In a machine of the character described, conveying means for conveying the cane,

means for ltilting the cane, a topping cutter,

and a fender co-oper/ating with the cutter, said fender arranged to intercept the tilted cane and having a top portion,substantially parallel to the path of the conveying means and arranged to engage and bend over theY conveying means for conveying the cane, aV

rotatable topping cutter, and a fender adapted to engage the end of the cane stalks and Y angles to one another, said fender being' arranged in co-operative relation tol said cutter Ywhereby it causes the latter to cut olf the Ytops of the canev at a substantially yuniform distance from the upper ends thereof. v 4. 'In a machine of the character described, conveying means for conveying the cane, a topping cutter rotating V'in a` plane substantially parallel. to the direction of movement of the conveying means, and a side fender having a portion arranged transversely to the plane of the cutter and substantially parallel to the path of the conveying means and having a top portion in a plane substantially parallel to the plane in which. the cutter rotates. v Y l 5. In a machine of the character described, conveying means for conveying the cane, a topping cutter rotatable in a plane substantially parallel to they direction of movement of the conveying meansand a fender adapted to engage the ends of cane stalks and.

two sides of said stalks at substantially right angles to one another, said fender being arranged in co-operat1ve relation to'sald cut-` terwhereby it causes the latter to cut off the tops of the caneat a substantially uniform distance from the ends thereof. Y

6. In a machine ofthe character described, means for conveying the cane, a toppingA cutter, a fender co-operating with said cutter and arranged to engage and bend over the tops of the cane, and means for guiding and sweeping the ends of the cane into engagement with said fender.

7 In a machine of the character described,

Ameans for conveying the cane, a rot-ating topping cutter, al fender co-operating with said cutter and arranged to engage and bend'A Vover the tops of the cane, and a sweep belt arranged to guide and move the ends of the cane into engagement with the fender. Y

8. In a machine of the character described, conveying means for conveying the cane, a rotating topping cutter, and a three-walled fender arranged to be engaged by the'ends of the cane., v

9. In a machine of the character described, conveying means for conveying the cane, a topping cutter rotatable in a plane substantiallyparallel to the direction of movement of the conveying means, a three-walled fender adapted to be engaged by the endsof the cane, and `means for sweeping the ends of the cane into co-operative relation with said fender.

l0. In aA machine of the character de n scribed, theicombinat-ion of conveyor chains extending upwardly and rearwardly forconveyingy the cane ina standing positionthru the mach1ne,a topping cutter locatedv above the conveyor vchains inip'osition to actvupon cane fed by the chains, a fender-co-operat- .ing with said lcutter, and a sweep'belt located above said conveyor chains and inclined yrearwardly with reference thereto, ar-

ranged toy sweep thel ends of the cane into.,

engagement with-'said fender.

n he character described, the combinationof `conveyor chains extending upwardly and rearwardly. for conveying the cane Y in a` standing position through the machine," a topping cutterflocated above the conveyor chains, and afender cooperating withsaid cutter and having a substantially vertical rear Wall extending ina plaine transverse to said conveyor chains, avertical side wall substantial-ly parallel to .saidf conveyor "chains, anda. top Wall substantially parallel to said conveyor chains.

` 12.111 a 1machine of' thev character described, atopping cutter having. knives bent so as to revolve in a dish-shaped path, and

a .fixed bladev cofop'erating with said knives.`

13;,In al machine ofthe character de` scribed,[the combination of conveyor chains,`

rfor'conveyingthe cane in a standingposition through the machine, and a topping cutter located above the conveyor chains and revolving on a shaft inclined forwardly` from a line perpendicular tothe conveyor chains.

Ilt.V In a, machine ofk the character'y dei scribed,the combination of conveyor chains for conveying the 'cane 1n a standing posi-l tion through the machine, and a topping cutter located above the conveyor chains and "YV having knives bent Aso as to revolve in a dish-shaped .pathv and mounted on ka shaft inclined forwardly from a line perpendicular to the conveyor chains. l f

In testimony whereof we have-afiixed our signatures to'this specification. FREDERICK C. DOUGLAS` TVVILKES. FRANCIS K. FLYNN. Y 

